Systems and methods for handling silence in audio streams

Abstract

Systems and methods for handling silence in audio streams are disclosed. In one aspect, a transmitter detects a halt in an audio stream. After detection of the halt in the audio stream, the transmitter embeds a silence signal into the audio stream and transmits the silence signal to associated receivers. The associated receivers may respond to the embedded silence signal by “playing” silence or by using the silence signal to activate a silence protocol. In either event, the associated receivers do not receive the original audio halt and do not produce an unwanted audio artifact.

Description

BACKGROUNDI. Field of the Disclosure[0001]The technology of the disclosure relates generally to audio streams and particularly to SOUNDWIRE audio streams.II. Background[0002]Mobile computing devices, such as cellular telephones, smart phones, and the like, have become increasingly common throughout modern society. The increase in use of such devices is attributable in part to the increased functionality of such devices. In particular, many such devices have evolved from simple telephony devices into a mobile terminal that may support various multimedia inputs and outputs to expand the capability of the devices to produce a variety of multimedia content for the user.[0003]Various exemplary protocols have been proposed and adopted relating to how audio signals are handled within a mobile computing device. In particular, a Serial Low-power Inter-chip Media Bus (SLIMbus™) published by the MIPI® Alliance has been promulgated and updated as recently as February 2015. While SLIMbus has num...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent is about a method to prevent audio artifacts that can occur when listening to music through a speaker. The method involves detecting a specific tone embedded in the audio stream and then muting the output from the speaker to reduce these artifacts. The technical effect of this invention is improved quality of audio through a speaker system.

Problems solved by technology

While SLIMbus has numerous advocates, it has seen relatively slow adoption by the industry.

In a SOUNDWIRE interface, audio artifacts, such as pops or clicks, may result from a halt in an audio stream.

Such artifacts may occur because software associated with a receiver in the SOUNDWIRE interface does not detect the halt until after the halt has already been played.

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